For her first appearance she performed ABBA's ' Ring Ring'. She then quickly, and affectionately, became known on the show by her nickname 'Tiny Tina'. Initially appearing as a Young Talent Time contestant in 1974, Arena went on to permanently join the cast as a regular member of the show's Young Talent Team in 1976.

In the mid-1970s, there was a minority of ethnic diversity represented in the Australian mainstream media, especially on primetime television. When Arena was selected to appear on Young Talent Time in 1974, the producers at Lewis-Young Productions and Network Ten asked her to change her first name from Filippina to 'Tina'-creating her stage name, 'Tina Arena'-so as to be more relatable to the wider national audience.

Really, there just wasn't.' Young Talent Time years Īrena received singing lessons from Voila Ritchie who recommended her to appear on a television talent quest and variety show, Young Talent Time, an Australian weekly television variety program produced by Lewis-Young Productions and screened on Network Ten. And there was no room for pretentiousness. There was a lot of love but there was a lot of discipline. Recalling her upbringing, Arena says, 'It was a very Italian household, it was a very traditional household. Columba's College, Essendon, in Melbourne. For secondary schooling, she attended a Catholic girls' college, St. She changed her first name from Filippina to Tina, her stage name becoming Tina Arena, when she appeared as a child performer on the national television talent show Young Talent Time in 1976, at age 8. Īrena's family call her Pina, which is her shortened first name.

At the age of six, she was the flower girl at her cousin Gaetano's wedding, and at the reception she urged her father to approach the host so that she could sing- Daryl Braithwaite's version of ' You're My World'-it was her first public performance. : 7 Arena grew up in Keilor East, Victoria with two sisters, Nancy and Silvana As a child, she listened to Spanish, Italian and French songs that were in her family's record collection. By the following year he was a labourer in Melbourne and later worked for Victorian Railways. Giuseppe was a rural worker in Sicily and then a cane cutter in Cairns in 1955. Life and career 1967–87: Early life and career beginnings Īrena was born in the Melbourne suburb of Keilor East, to Giuseppe 'Joe' Arena and Francesca 'Franca' Catalfamo (both from Valguarnera, Sicily), Sicilian immigrants, in Melbourne on 1 November 1967. In March 2019, the Government of Australia appointed Arena as a board member of the Australia Council for the Arts for a three-year term. In 2016 Arena was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). On Australia Day, 26 January 2016, Arena was recognised in the Australia Day Honours and appointed a member in the General Division of the Order of Australia 'for significant service to the music industry as a singer, songwriter, and recording artist, and as a supporter of charitable groups'. In 2015, Arena was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association ARIA Hall of Fame. In 2011, Arena became the first Australian to be awarded a knighthood of the French National Order of National Merit, presented by the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, for her contributions to French culture, and ceremonially awarded by Frédéric Mitterrand, the Minister of Culture and Communication of France. In 2001, she was awarded a BMI Foundation Songwriting Award (Broadcast Music Inc) by the American performance rights organisation for co-writing ' Burn' with Pam Reswick and Steve Werfel. Arena is multilingual, singing and recording in English, Italian, French and Spanish.Īrena has earned several international and national awards, including a BRIT Award, seven ARIA Awards and two World Music Awards for Best-selling Australian Artist (1996, 2000). She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwide. Filippina Lydia 'Tina' Arena AM (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer.

Tina mom of two naked